Windows 7 is faster than Windows 10

[sono]

I have tested this on 3 laptops in recent years, I decided to post my feedback about it:

I have a

- HP Probook 6570b with i5 CPU from 2012
- HP Elitebook 8460p with i5 CPU from 2011

Had purchased them preinstalled with Windows 10 Professional. The Probook was running fine for a while, but then it slowed down. The Elitebook was already slow. Annoyingly slow. Installed Windows 7 Ultimate on them. The Probook has been running like that for 6 years, the Elitebook for 1. Both is much faster. The Probook is very convenient to use, I use it for video editing, etc, I have no complaint about speed at all. The Elitebook is slower, but still quite acceptable.

Both have Updates disabled from the beginnings, only some were added as manual updates. I think that is the major benefit compared to Windows 10. After installing Windows 7, if Updates are on, even if every update has been installed, the process is running and consumes a lot of the power capacity of the machine. There is a very significant change when the service it is disabled in Services. The machines get much faster.

I also have a HP 620 Dual Core from 2009. It has been running Windows 7 Ultimate for 9 years, with the same settings. It still runs fine, the speed is quite acceptable even nowdays. My mother has a newer laptop from 2016, a Samsung, not sure about the specs, but it cost as much as the HP 620, and it is dead slow. It is running Windows 10. It was the same situation with another laptop of hers, an entry level HP Pavilion from 2017.

 

[videobruce]

When one O/S has 14 (or less) svchost.exe processes running at startup and the other has 57 svchost.exe processes running, it's easy to see what/where the problem is!
(Yes, I counted the entries on both O/S's using Process Hacker (no, it's NOT a 'Hack' tool, just a poor choice of name).

BUT, it could also be all the added crap that these PC makers load into their PC's on top of the O/S.

 

[sono]

Plus the inability to remove all that crap (or the difficult ways to do that).

 

[michael diemer]

My hope is that MS gets busted up for its monopolistic behavior, and the Windows 7 code, as well as XP, and, heck, while they're at it, even Vista becomes open-sourced. We'll get back the really good operating systems MS made, but better than ever.

Well, we can dream, can't we?

 

[sono]

One thing is sure: Win 10 was advertised before the startup as a feather light operating system, and it became the opposite of that. This direction is absolutely shameful. In the beginning I refused to use Win 8 and 10 because they were ugly, but it turned out I can't use my machines if I install them.

 

[MisterEd]

One thing is sure: Win 10 was advertised before the startup as a feather light operating system, and it became the opposite of that. This direction is absolutely shameful. In the beginning I refused to use Win 8 and 10 because they were ugly, but it turned out I can't use my machines if I install them.

I don't understand your problem with Windows 10. I have never heard of anyone saying that Windows 10 was more lightweight than Windows 7. The opposite was generally considered true.

I have been using Windows for 30 years. I have found that each new version of Windows requires a faster more capable computer. Generally the latest version of Windows runs slower on older hardware unless the older hardware is higher end. That is, faster than average.

I will upgrade a computer to a newer version of Windows if possible. I only go back to the previous version of Windows if there is a compatibility or performance problem. These problems can sometimes be overcome by upgrading the hardware. Naturally that is easier to do with desktops than laptops.

When Window 10 first came out I built a desktop computer with it in mind. All my other computers had Windows XP or Windows 7. I eventually upgraded the computers (where it made sense) to Windows 10. Two of these computers were dual-boot Windows 7/10. As time went on I used Windows 10 more often than Windows 7.

As of today my main desktop and laptop have Windows 11. The others have either dual-boot Windows 7/10 or only Windows 10. I have retired the Windows XP computers.

I upgraded a lot of computers to Windows 10 (both desktops and laptops). For example, I upgraded two laptops to Windows 10:

Computer #1: Toshiba Tecra M7-S7331 laptop/tablet (2006)

Original Specs
CPU: Intel Core Duo T2400
RAM: 1GB (2x512MB)
HDD: Hitachi 100GB 2.5" SATA HDD
O/S: Windows XP Tablet Ed.
Upgrades #1:
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB)
O/S: Windows 7 Pro, 32-bit (dual-boot Win XP/7)
Upgrades #2:
HDD: WDC 250GB 2.5" SATA HDD
O/S: Windows 10 Pro, 32-bit

Takeaway: I was happy that Windows 10 actually installed on this laptop. Unfortunately, the speed is rather sluggish. I have since gone back to Windows 7 whose speed is acceptable. I may try an SSD with it to see if Windows 10 runs any faster on it.

Computer #2: Dell Latitude E6410

Original Specs
CPU: Intel Core i5 M450 (2.4GHz) laptop (2010)
RAM: 4GB (1x4GB)
HDD: Seagate 250GB 2.5" SATA HDD
O/S: Windows 7 Pro, 32-Bit
Upgrades #1:
O/S: Windows 8 Pro, 32-Bit (dual-boot Win 7/8)
Upgrades #2:
O/S: Windows 10 Pro, 32-Bit (dual-boot Win 7/10)
Upgrades #3:
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB)
HDD: Samsung 500GB 2.5" SATA SSD
O/S: Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit (dual-boot Win 7/10)

Takeaway: Originally Windows 10 was slow on this laptop. Upgrading the RAM to 8GB and replacing the HDD with an SSD made the computer fast enough that the performance of Windows 10 is OK.

 

[sono]

Before Windows 10 came out, in my circles it was often mentioned that it will be able to perform faster than Windows 7. And this is what I can hear mentioned in various Youtube videos as well, so it was not a misconception in our corner of the world only. Also I can hear that the reality is the opposite in computer tests from later videos. If you want to know how they concluded all this, you need to ask those people who uploaded those reviews. I am not into gaming and gamer configs though, so I only focus on the segments I am interested in. But on the opposite, gaming is not the only segment of the computer industry. (BY the way, owners of high end configs will less likely notice such performance problems we are talking about here, it mostly affects lower end configs, and guess what, this is what I am writing about as well. )

I accept your experience with these systems. However your experience doesn't help in my case, and what helped is wiping Windows 10 and install Windows 7. Originally, my own motivation to use Windows 7 is because I hate the design of systems 8 and up. They look terribly ugly for me. This thing with performance difference came years later, that I noticed it. Computers and other gadgets (i.e iPad) becoming slow over the years with updates, system upgrades is a real issue, not a myth, and if you want to gain speed, this method to reinstall Windows 7 worked for me in case of Windows. If you want to run the latest game or latest 3D software or the latest DAW you can't do that though, believe me I know that. But when I write about a solution, I assume people will be able to conclude if that solution refers to their case or not.

 

[sono]

Another feedback, this time from Music Production:

I have Reaper installed on my Windows 7 System. My music interface is Alesis iO4. On this setup, you can go down to 32 samples buffer, that is pretty good as far as latency is concerned. I have a freshly installed Win 10 with the same setup on another drive. You can't go down below 128 samples. As soon as you try, lagging will appear.

So another example that Windows 7 is faster (or more effective handling stuff).

 

[videobruce]

How can a O/S be "faster" if the predecessor runs around 10-15 svchost.exe entries and the newer bloated version runs around 55 of the same file named file ?????
(W7 Pro vs W10 Pro both x64)
I counted using Process Hacker (great program) which is on my Desktop in the lower left corner right under 'Computer (aka 'My Computer).

And that doesn't even address the endless 'Services' list .
Ans then there is this;
Black Viper's Windows 10 Service Configurations - Black Viper | PDF | Hyper V | Windows 10